Button and Slot Webbing Fastener

ABSTRACT

An article ( 10 ) has a fastener button ( 12 ) formed of a one or more layers ( 26 ) of relatively stiff material that is secured to the article by one or more lines of stitching ( 40 ) passing through the pad and into the article thereby securing the pad to the article and thereby defining a stitched region of the pad and side portions of the pad extending transversely from either side of the stitched region In use, a fastener member ( 14 ) having an elongate slot ( 16   b ) closed at one end may be placed between the article ( 10 ) and the side portions, with at least part of the stitched region in the slot ( 16   b ), the stiffness and configuration of the pad and the slot being such that in normal use the pad cannot be bent double and pulled through the slot ( 16   b ).

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to fastener means for releasably anchoring orfastening strips of webbing to one another or to other articles ormembers. The invention also relates to methods for securing the ends ofwebbing, and to fastener means used in such methods. The fasteners ofthe invention can be referred to as button-and-slot fasteners becauseone part includes a button-like protrusion and the other part includes aring or slotted plate shaped to engage the button.

The methods and fastener means of the invention are well suited tosecuring helmets, knee and elbow pads, packs, backpacks, luggage,containers and other equipment—hereafter referred to generally as‘articles’—used by the armed services, by police, rescue andparamilitary personnel, as well as by hikers and the transport industry.

In this specification, ‘webbing’ generally refers to an elongateflexible band, strip or tape of woven textile material intended for usewhere tensile strength, light weight and flexibility are desired.However, the invention may also be applicable to non-woven flexiblebands, strips or tapes having good tensile strength and rip-stopqualities. Thus, ‘webbing’ will be used to indicate both woven andunwoven strips of textile material or sheet in this specification.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Button and slot fasteners are well known and have probably been in usefor well over a century to secure the ends of shoulder straps to the bibof overalls. In that application, a steel mushroom-form button isriveted to the bib and a plate or ring having a tapered aperture isattached to the strap so that the length of the strap can be easilyadjusted. The aperture that engages the button is generally oftriangular or T-shape so that the head of the button can be passedthrough the wider part of the aperture and the neck of the button canslip into the narrower part. Where, as in the case of overalls, the endof the strap tension is substantially vertical, the wider part of theaperture of the ring or plate is uppermost and the narrow part islowermost.

There are disadvantages associated with metal buttons riveted to clothbecause of the radically different nature of the materials. The strongand rigid steel button is attached to the much weaker soft and flexiblecloth over a narrow area so that it is prone to tearing out or wearingthrough. The use of washers to widen the attachment area not only makesa bulky fastener but leads to the washers catching on or abrading otheritems of clothing. Of course, conventional disc-like buttons that aresewn in place have been used with tapered-slot fasteners for centuriesas well but the attachment threads were highly prone to abrasion and,because of that problem, conventional buttons have largely been replacedby riveted metal buttons. Moreover, the concentration of attachmentforces in a very confined area at the center of a conventional buttonagain makes the conventional button prone to be torn off the substratecloth under strong force. That is, the threads by which the conventionalbutton is attached simply tear or pull though the cloth in much the sameway as occurs with the rivet of a metal button.

OUTLINE OF THE INVENTION

From one aspect at least, this invention is based on the realizationthat a button-like protrusion can be formed on a suitable substratearticle (including a webbing strap) by sewing one or multiple layers ofmaterial, preferably webbing, to the substrate article using an elongateline or lines of stitching. The ‘button’ thus formed is attached to thesubstrate by an elongate central seam or seams of stitches that—becausethey are elongate—can be made much stronger than if the same thread wasused to attach a conventional button to the substrate. Moreover, becauseof the similarity of material properties between the webbing button anda cloth substrate, forces are not concentrated but are distributed muchmore effectively as would be the case with either the conventional orriveted button. When multiple layers are used, these can be created byfolding or coiling a single length of webbing.

As will be clear from the above, it is envisaged that a webbing buttonof the type indicated can be formed by simply coiling or folding the endof a webbing strap upon itself and running one or more seams along thecentral portion of the folded webbing. Thus, in such a case, the webbingbutton is integral with the webbing strap, which then forms thesubstrate. By forming a button on the end of one strap and attaching aring or plate to the end of another strap, fasteners formed inaccordance with the present invention can be readily used to join a pairof webbing straps.

In most cases, however, the substrate material will be part of anarticle and will not itself be a webbing strap. So, the webbing buttonwill be formed from a separate webbing strap or webbing pieces and sewnto the article or substrate. For example, the button may be sewn to thematerial lining of a helmet and the aperture plate or ring may beattached to the end of a webbing chinstrap.

The webbing strap or other material from which the button is formedneeds to be of a thickness so that the finished button cannot be bentdouble and pulled through the slot of the aperture plate or ring withoutfailure of the plate or ring. A narrow slot in the plate or ring allowsthe pad to be formed of a single layer. It is desirable, but notessential, that the material be reasonably stiff so that in use thebutton remains generally planar with the substrate, so aiding attachmentand removal of the plate or ring.

It is generally be desirable to have a least two layers.

The ring or plate that engages such a webbing button can be much thesame as that used for a riveted or conventional button but, because thewebbing button is rectilinear rather than round or disc-like, the narrowportion of the aperture that engages the button will normally be moreelongate—i.e., slot-like—so that the entire length of the webbing buttonis encompassed by the narrow slot-like portion of the aperture. Also,the wider portion of the aperture will normally be larger than thatrequired for a rivet button because the width of a webbing button willnormally be greater than that of a rivet (or even a disc) button.

If the button-and-slot fastener of the present invention is intended tohandle a large load or if it is intended to join two webbing straps, twobuttons can be used—one on each side of one strap or substrate—and tworings or plates can be used on the other strap, one to engage eachrespective button. The two webbing buttons can be affixed to the firststrap or substrate by common seams and the two rings or plates can beattached to the second strap by a common loop formed at the end of thatstrap. Advantages of such a double-button fastener are greater strengthand improved symmetry. As noted earlier, where the button substrate isformed by a strap of the same width as the button, the strap and buttoncan be integral; that is, the button may be formed by folding the end ofthe substrate strap. One of the buttons on a double-button strap maytherefore be formed in this way.

Accordingly, in one broad form the invention provides an article havinga fastener button, the fastener button comprising:

-   -   a pad of relatively stiff material, and    -   at least one line of stitching passing through the pad and into        the article thereby securing the pad to the article and defining        a stitched region of the pad,    -   wherein    -   the at least one line of stitching located so as to delineate        side portions of the pad extending transversely from either side        of the stitched region,

wherein, in use,

a fastener member having an elongate slot closed at one end may beplaced between the article and the side portions, with at least thestitched region in the slot, the stiffness and configuration of the padand the slot being such that in normal use the pad cannot be bent doubleand pulled through the slot.

In another broad form the invention provides a webbing fastenercomprising:

-   -   a length of webbing,    -   a portion of the webbing at a first free end being coiled about        itself or folded back on itself to form a pad of at least one        layer overlying a part of the remainder of the webbing;    -   at least one line of stitching passing through the pad and into        the webbing underneath the pad thereby securing the pad to the        webbing and defining a stitched region of the pad,

the at least one line of stitching located so as to delineate sideportions of the pad extending transversely from either side of thestitched region,

and

-   -   a fastener member having an elongate slot closed at one end        mounted on the webbing remote from the first end

wherein, in use,

the fastener member may be placed between the article and the sideportions, with at least the stitched region in the slot, the stiffnessand configuration of the pad and the slot being such that in normal usethe pad cannot be bent double and pulled through the slot.

The pad may be formed of multiple layers of material. When formed ofmultiple layers, the pad is preferably formed of a strip of materialcoiled about itself or folded back on itself.

The pad is preferably secured to using at least two lines of stitching,and preferably the se are generally parallel.

In preferred forms the pad is generally rectangular.

The line or lines of stitching preferably extend from or adjacent a rearedge of the pad toward a front edge.

Preferably the line or lines of stitching are located generallycentrally relative to side edges of the pad, so as to define two sideportions that are generally the same size.

If the pad is formed of multiple layers of material and the layers arepreferably stitched together at or adjacent side edges of the pad, atleast. Stitching may also extend along or adjacent the front and/or rearedges.

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout thedescription and the claims the words ‘comprise’, ‘comprising’, and thelike are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to anexclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of“including, but not limited to”.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLES

Having portrayed the nature of the present invention, a particularexample of the application of the principles thereof will now bedescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that many variations andmodifications can be made to the example without departing from thescope of the invention as outlined above. In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of portion of a kneepad having a webbingbutton attached thereto.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an aperture plate adapted to engage the webbingbutton shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the webbing button and kneepad portion of FIG.1 with the aperture plate of FIG. 2 engaged therewith.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the webbing button of FIG. 1 with a T-ringengaged therewith.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the button and T-ring of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a side cross section of a webbing button formed by foldingrather than coiling the webbing.

FIG. 7 is a side cross section of a webbing strap having a webbingbutton according to the invention at one end thereof.

With reference to FIGS. 1-3, the illustrated webbing fastener 10basically comprises a webbing button 12 and a triangular aperture plate14 that has a roughly T-shape aperture 16 formed therein, aperture 16having a triangular proximal portion 16 a and a narrow slot-like distalportion 16 b. The external shape of the plate 14 is not important. Awebbing strap 18 passes through the widest part of portion 16 a and islooped around and sewn back onto itself with transverse seams 19 shownin FIG. 3. In FIG. 2, seams 19 are not shown as the looped portion hasbeen cut away to more clearly show the shape of aperture plate 14. Anarrow pull-tab 20, formed by a folded length of narrow tape 22 sewnclosed by seam 24, is threaded through aperture 16 so that it can bepulled into the distal end of slot 16 b and used to assist in pullingplate 14 over button 12. The tab also assists in removing the plate 14from the button 12.

Button 12 is formed by a coil of webbing tape or strap 26 and, in thisexample, is of rectilinear form and somewhat longer than it is wide. Thecoiled strap 26 is held together by two seams 28, one near each edge,that (in this example) pass through four layers of strap 26. The outerend of coiled strap 26 extends proximally from the coiled portion toform a tail 30. While seams 28 serve to conveniently ‘pre-assemble’button 12 to facilitate its attachment to articles, they also serve thefunction of stiffening the edges of the button and prevent separation ofthe edges, particularly the corners, that otherwise tend to bulge. Inthis example, the substrate 31 to which button 12 is attached forms isthe outer layer or cover of a kneepad 32, only portion of which is shownin FIGS. 1 and 3. Tail 30 of button 12 is attached to kneepad 32 bybeing sewn into the hem 34 by means of the hem 36. A reinforcing seam 38is added proximally of hem seam 36 to firmly anchor tail 30 into kneepad32.

Importantly, the coiled portion of button 12 is secured to substrate 31(i.e., the surface of kneepad 32) by at least one central seam—in thisexample, two parallel spaced seams 40 are employed, each extending rightto the distal end 12 a of button 12. Use of multiple seams is notessential but it can strengthen fastener 10 and also aids in stability.Assuming substrate 31 has only one layer of material, central buttonseams 40 extend through five layers of material.

To assemble fastener 10, plate 14 is aligned with button 12 and pulleddistally using pull-tab 20 until the distal end of the coil of button 12fits within wide portion 16 a of aperture 16, whereupon plate 14 ispressed down onto substrate 31 so that the plate can be pulled or pushedback (proximally) while passing under the sides of the coil of button 12to enter central button seams 40 into slot 16 b of plate 14. Theassembly is shown in FIG. 3. Finally, it will be appreciated that themost important function of pull-tab 20 is to make undoing fastener 10easy, this being done by pulling on tab 20 to slide plate 14 distally,while assisting the wide portion 16 a of aperture 16 of plate 14 toslide up on tail 30, until plate 14 has been moved distally of button12.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a modified fastener 10 a having the same button 12 asin FIGS. 1-3 attached to the same substrate 31 that forms the outerlayer of a kneepad 32. In this case, however, aperture plate 14 isreplaced by a T-shape ring 14 b which, in this case is bent out of flatat 50 so as to better conform to the contour of kneepad and substrate 31and to better retain ring 14 b in engagement with button 12. For thesake of clarity, no pull-tab or attachment webbing strap has been shown,though it will be convenient to employ essentially the same ones asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 1-3.

While a button may be made by coiling a webbing strap as describedabove, the necessary thickness can also be made by folding the strap ina zigzag fashion. FIG. 6 shows a button 100 formed of a strip of webbing108 folded back on it self in a zigzag manner to form layers 102. Agenerally central line or lines of stitches 106 secures the button 100to the substrate 104.

FIG. 7 shows a webbing strap 120 comprising a length of webbing 121having a folded webbing button 122 according to the invention formed atone end and having a slotted fastener 124, with slot 126, mounted at theother end. The fastened may be substantially the same as fastener 14 or14 a of FIGS. 1 to 5. Adjustment means, such as a three bar plate, notshown, may be used to adjust the effective length of the webbing strap.In use the fastener 126 may be attached to the webbing button 122 aspreviously described.

Whilst the embodiments described have multiple layers of material in thebutton, the number of layers ranges from one upwards. This depends inpart on the material used and the application. The number of layers inthe pad is, in part, dependent on what is a reasonable slot width inrelation to the thickness of the material of the plate or ring. Plate orring thickness is a function of what is required by way of strength andstiffness in the fitting. Since the plate sits underneath the button, inpractice the slot needs to be wider than the stitched area to allow thebutton material to gently rise upwards from the stitched area within theslot to clear the top surface of the plate without significant “folding”upwards. This also eases engagement of the plate to the button. Multiplelayers in the pad provide the thickness in the pad so that, when foldedtogether, the button cannot pass through the slot whilst allowing forboth a wider slot and a thicker, stronger plate or ring.

While the examples and variants described offer substantial benefitsover the button and slot fasteners of the prior art for the kneepad (andmany other) applications, it will be appreciated by those skilled in theart that many alterations can be made thereto without departing from thescope of the invention as outlined above. For example, one or twotransverse slots may be formed in the proximal portion of plate 14 so asto form a conventional ‘three-bar plate’ through which webbing strap 18may be threaded to permit the effective length of strap 18 to beadjusted. Ring 14 a can be similarly modified, of course. Similarly,while a button made by coiling a webbing strap as described, thenecessary thickness can also be made by folding the strap in a zig-zagfashion, by the use of separate short-length pieces of strap or by usingone or more pieces of non-woven plastic material, provided it can besewn. It is not necessary to form the button with a tail, though thisnot only assists in anchoring to the button to the substrate but it alsoprovides a convenient ramp over which the plate can be pushed to effectcoupling with the button.

As already noted, where a webbing strap forms the substrate, the buttoncan be formed integrally with the substrate by simply folding or coilingits end and then sewing. As also noted, a button can easily be formed oneach side of a strap-like substrate and two rings or plates can beprovide on the other fastener component to couple with the buttons tomake a stronger and symmetrical fastener.

1. An article having a fastener button thereon, the fastener buttoncomprising: a pad of relatively stiff material, and at least one line ofstitching passing through the pad and into the article thereby securingthe pad to the article and thereby defining a stitched region of thepad, wherein the at least one line of stitching located so as todelineate side portions of the pad extending transversely from eitherside of the stitched region, wherein, in use, a fastener member havingan elongate slot closed at one end may be placed between the article andthe side portions, with at least the stitched region in the slot, thestiffness and configuration of the pad and the slot being such that innormal use the pad cannot be bent double and pulled through the slot. 2.The article of claim 1 wherein the pad is formed of multiple layers ofmaterial.
 3. The article of claim 1 wherein the pad is formed of a stripof material coiled about itself or folded back on itself.
 4. The articleof claim 1 having at least two lines of stitching.
 5. The article ofclaim 1 having at least two generally parallel lines of stitching. 6.The article of claim 1 wherein the pad is generally rectangular.
 7. Thearticle of claim 1 wherein the line or lines of stitching extend from oradjacent a rear edge of the pad toward a front edge
 8. The article ofclaim 1 wherein the line or lines of stitching are located generallycentrally relative to side edges of the pad.
 9. The article of claim 1wherein the pad is formed of multiple layers of material and the layersare stitched together at or adjacent side edges of the pad, at least.10. The article of claim 1 wherein the fastener button is formed fromthe free end portion of a length of webbing, the remainder of thewebbing comprising the article to which the button is attached by saidstitching.
 11. A webbing fastener comprising: a length of webbing, aportion of the webbing at a first free end being coiled about itself orfolded back on itself to form a pad of at least one layer overlying apart of the remainder of the webbing; at least one line of stitchingpassing through the pad and into the webbing underneath the pad therebysecuring the pad to the webbing, thereby defining a stitched region ofthe pad, the at least one line of stitching located so as to delineateside portions of the pad extending transversely from either side of thestitched region, and a fastener member having an elongate slot closed atone end mounted on the webbing remote from the first end wherein, inuse, the fastener member may be placed between the webbing and the sideportions, with at least the stitched region in the slot, the stiffnessand configuration of the pad and the slot being such that in normal usethe pad cannot be bent double and pulled through the slot.
 12. Thewebbing fastener of claim 11 wherein the pad is formed of multiplelayers of material.
 13. The webbing fastener of claim 11 wherein the padis formed of a strip of material coiled about itself or folded back onitself.
 14. The webbing fastener of claim 11 having at least two linesof stitching.
 15. The webbing fastener of claim 11 having at least twogenerally parallel lines of stitching.
 16. The webbing fastener of claim11 wherein the pad is generally rectangular.
 17. The webbing fastener ofclaim 11 wherein the line or lines of stitching extend from or adjacenta rear edge of the pad toward a front edge
 18. The webbing fastener ofclaim 11 wherein the line or lines of stitching are located generallycentrally relative to side edges of the pad.